“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
To boldly go… These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. The good ship Enterprise had already voyaged into the high def realm but the format it cruised on suffered a reactor core meltdown. It now beams onto Blu-ray just in time to coincide with a big budget film as well as correct some annoyances the HD DVD set suffered from.
Star Trek was apparently dead then a new theatrical film revived the franchise. You might think that I’m talking about modern history, but I’m really referring to the past.
The original series’ voyage was begun in 1966 and ended in 1969, but during that run it developed a devoted fan base. The voyages would continue for a time with an animated series (1973-1974), but in 1979 the crew would make the trek onto the big screen with Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
This would lead to a series of films with the original crew as well as a bevy of new television adventures for new crews. History is set to repeat itself as the series has been re-imagined by J.J. Abrams some thirty years later and is possibly going to once again revive Star Trek.
The Enterprise is a starship whose mission is to explore new worlds. She’s captained by James T. Kirk (William Shatner), her science officer and second-in-command is Spock (Leonard Nimoy), an alien called a Vulcan, and her chief medical officer is the crusty Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley). The rest of her crew consist of chief engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), communication officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), helmsman Sulu (George Takei), and navigator Chekov (Walter Koenig).
The crew boldly goes to various alien cultures, planets, and encounter allegorical situations paralleling what was going on in the 1960s, but still have a universal feel to their allegory. The crew also encounters all manner of adventure and situation to keep everyone interested. In a word, this television series has become a classic, an icon of science fiction television, and you can still find its syndicated shows still airing on channels today.
The episodes did feature some quaint special effects and in 2006 new computer enhanced special effects began appearing in the show. When the series made its high definition debut in 2007 it was on HD DVD, with a standard DVD version on the flipside of the disc, and only featured these enhanced versions, much to the ire of some fans.
The lack of a choice in viewing the episodes was sure to cause uproar in such a vocal group of fans. HD DVD was the format that Paramount had decided to back and when that format died the wait was on for Star Trek to beam onto the winning format – Blu-ray.
That stardate has arrived and I’m happy to report that this new version does contain both the Trek as you saw it in syndication (or in its original run) and the newly enhanced versions via seamless branching.
Both are presented in 1080p high definition (1.33:1, fullscreen) and look fantastic. Some of those new effects work well and others seem odd, but it’s great that the old version of the show is included.
Special features are abundant, but it’s the inclusion of the original shows that’s newest on the discs. Disc one has Starfleet Access for “Where No Man has Gone Before.” Starfleet Access is a picture-in-picture feature that details the episode. Next is the high definition 20 minute “Spacelift: Transporting Trek into the 21st Century” about the restoration and new special effects of the show as well as a trailer for the new movie. Disc three has Starfleet Access for “The Menagerie, Part 1 and 2.” The 12 minute “Reflections on Spock” with Leonard Nimoy talking about the role he’s most known for (standard definition).
Disc four has Starfleet Access for “Balance of Terror.” The 10 minute “Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner” has him talk just about that (standard definition). Disc five has the 18 minute “To Boldly Go…Season One” about making that first season and the 24 minute “The Birth of a Timeless Legacy” is about how the show has become iconic (both in standard definition). Disc six has Starfleet Access for “Space Seed.” The 16 minute “Sci-fi Visionaries” has the writers talking about bringing the genre to television (standard definition).
The coolest feature might be the “Interactive Enterprise Inspection” that gives you a history of the ship as well as explore it with your remote. Engage! Disc seven has Starfleet Access for “Errand of Mercy.” Next is the 13 minute, high definition “Billy Blackburn’s Treasure Chest” in which the frequent extra shares memories and home movies about the show.
The 8 minute “Kiss and Tell: Romance in the 23rd Century” talks about all the amore on the show (standard definition). You can also use BD-Live (depending on your player) to go online and get more special features.
Star Trek is a show that has stood the test of time (and space?) to become a classic of the genre. This Blu-ray easily supplants the HD DVD version as it looks even better on Blu. What’s even better is that you get the versions you’ve come to know and love from repeated viewings as well as the new CGI enhanced versions.
An excellent set and highly recommended. Engage warp speed and head to your retailer of choice to get this fantastic set.
Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1 [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story